What Do Customers Want?

SWaMFest VI

October 13, 2010

Ed HessProfessor of Business AdministrationBatten Executive-in-ResidenceHesse@darden.virginia.eduwww.EDHLTD.com

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THE DNA OF GROWTH

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Research Findings

5 research projects

The Organic Growth Index ( “OGI”)

The Characteristics of High Organic Growers (“HOGS”)

The Challenges of Managing Private Company High Growth

The Myths of Growth

The Risks of Growth

WORKING ON YOUR BUSINESS

Peter Drucker said it concisely, clearly, and compellingly:

“The sole purpose of business is to serve customers.”

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WHAT DO CUSTOMERS WANT?

All customers no matter what you are selling want the same 3 things:

Defect-free products & services

On-time delivery

Great caring service

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CUSTOMERS WANT

Consistency

Reliability

Ease of doing business

Responsiveness

Needs met

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SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES

FOCUS on what they can do very, very well “2 inches wide, 2 miles deep”

Are EXECUTION CHAMPIONS

Have a CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT DNA- they get better each day

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HOW? PROCESSES – the recipes, checklists,

the how to do every step in the customer experience

Better, Faster, & Cheaper becomes the objectives everyday

Execution is the blocking & tackling of business

Business is like farming

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YOUR DAILY GOAL FOCUS everyday on doing what you

do EXCEPTIONALLY WELL 99% of the time and quickly fix the other 1% in a caring apologetic manner.

Quality comes first

Reputation comes first

Customers and employees come before you

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THE BIG “W”- WHY YOU? WHY is a customer going to buy from you?

What do you do differently than the competition that really matters to your customer?

What makes you different?

What does your customer need?

“Listen till it hurts”

“You can’t listen while your talking”

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DIFFERENTIATORS Quality

Speed

Ease of doing business

On-time and quality guarantees

Great service

Reliability

Consistency

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YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE

Unique products or services

Most innovative products

Cheapest products

But you must have EXECUTION EXCELLENCE

&GREAT SERVICE

That comes from people, processes, and

leadership.

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CUSTOMER CENTRICITY

To be successful, you must have:

CUSTOMER CENTRICITY

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HIGH EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

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A HIGH PERFORMANCE CULTURE

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EXECUTION EXCELLENCE TOOLS Morning & afternoon huddles

MBO: Manage by Objectives daily

MBE: Manage by Exceptions daily

“Leave a fire extinguisher” behind

Measure what is important

Reward what is important

Communicate, communicate, communicate

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THE SECRET SAUCE

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Employees Clients

$$$

ENABLING EXECUTION EXCELLENCE The Outback Way: “Teach don’t

punish”

Teams not stars

Money is not enough

Celebrate success

Help people be all they can be

Everyday is SHOWTIME!!!

Cross-train: no single point of failure

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THE 4 PRINCIPLES OF LEADERSHIP

Take care of your people

The Golden Rule

Lead by example

Always do what is right

It is NOT about you – it is about THEM.

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4 WAYS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Improvements: Better, faster, cheaper

Innovation: Doing something new

Scaling: Doing more of what you are

doing

Strategic Acquisitions

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4 WAYS TO SELL MORE STUFF

Expand geographically

Sell complimentary or adjacent products to existing customers

Sell complimentary services to existing customers

Deliver a scaled down version to a different customer segment

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4 WAYS TO BECOME MORE PROFITABLE

Technology to increase quality, efficiency & productivity

Just-in-time inventory

Reduce waste & mistakes

Discounts for fast payments- get cash faster

Reduce employee turnover

Preferred provider networks to reduce costs

UPS model

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THE KILLERS OF BUSINESS Commoditization

Complacency

Arrogance

Taking your customers & employees for granted

Loosing your personal edge-laziness & lack of personal discipline

Bad quality; bad reputation; bad conduct

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